Collateral
by Aini NuFire
Summary: Post 13x07 - After the Winchesters find Jack, Asmodeus brings out his leverage.


**A/N: Oh look, another post 13x07 one shot where the boys get Cas back. I wonder how many of these I'll end up writing before February, lol.**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine. Thank you 29Pieces for beta reading!**

* * *

"Collateral"

Dean and Sam stood on the side of the road, facing a very contrite looking Jack. Dean felt bad for the kid—he'd tried to do something he thought would help, and it blew up in all of their faces. But they'd handled it, like they always did.

"Jack, please come back with us," Sam pleaded.

Jack was silent for a long moment. "I'm a danger to everyone, aren't I?" he finally said in a soft voice. "That's why you brought me back to the bunker in the first place."

"Things were different then," Dean said. "But yeah, the bunker's safer—for all of us."

"We know you're worried about your powers," Sam put in. "But Cas is here now, and he'll help you."

"He's been worried sick, you know," Dean added. "Has been out looking for you nonstop since you took off."

And Dean understood the necessity of that, but Cas had just come back from the dead, and Dean had been hoping the lot of them could just stick together for a while. Of course, he should have known better. But they'd found Jack, and as long as the kid came home, Cas would, too.

Jack gazed at the ground in thought, then slowly craned his neck to take in the surrounding countryside, peaceful after the threat they'd averted only a few hours ago. Then, with his head hung low, he started toward the Impala to climb into the backseat.

Dean exchanged a look with his brother before they followed. After pulling onto the road again, Dean dug out his phone and called Cas.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hey. We found Jack. We're on our way back to the bunker."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line instead of the gush of relief Dean had been expecting, and he thought he'd lost the call, when a completely different voice answered.

"Well, now, that is good news," a heavy accent drawled.

Dean slammed on the brakes, flinging his passengers forward. Sam barely caught himself on the dash, and threw Dean a startled look as the Impala came to a jolting stop.

"Asmodeus," he said in a steely tone. "Where the hell is Cas?"

Sam's brows shot upward in alarm.

"Oh, I've got him nearby," the demon answered. "Been saving the angel for a rainy day, and what do you know, it's spring time."

Dean's blood turned to ice at the implication. This Prince of Hell had the ability to shapeshift, to change his voice…Dean and Sam had talked to Cas off and on several times over the past few weeks. Always short conversations, though…

"How long?" Dean asked thickly, though he already had a suspicion…those demons waiting in that bar when they'd gone to check on Cas, only to find the angel missing. And Cas hadn't come back to the bunker once since then.

Asmodeus chuckled. "Since you killed my demons that ambushed you at the bar."

Dean closed his eyes for a moment against an upwelling of recrimination and defeat. He should have known. He should have dug further. But dammit, Ketch suddenly being alive again had thrown him for a loop. And Cas had said he was fine—only it hadn't been Cas at all.

"What do you want?" Dean growled.

Asmodeus wouldn't have carried on this ruse if he didn't have a purpose for it.

Sam was shooting him frantic glares to be clued in, but Dean wasn't going to put the phone on speaker with Jack sitting in the backseat.

"I want Jack," Asmodeus replied, as if Dean couldn't have already figured that one out, too. "And since you've done me the favor of finding him, I propose a trade—the nephilim boy for your angel."

Dean's jaw tightened. "And if we say no?"

He knew they couldn't let Asmodeus get Jack. The fate of the world was at stake there. They'd have to find another way to get Cas back. Rowena was supposedly still alive—maybe they could get her help.

The Prince of Hell hummed thoughtfully. "I'm prepared to be civil about this, Dean. Know that I haven't touched the angel Castiel yet, but I will. For every day you delay bringing me Jack, I will string him up and cut him open. Maybe I'll even give you a call, let you listen. I'm sure with your experience in Hell, you can fill in the blanks just by the sounds."

Dean's stomach twisted with a surge of bile. "I will kill you," he said darkly.

Asmodeus scoffed. "Bring Jack to the bar—you know the one—by tomorrow morning." He hung up without delivering the "or else." He didn't need to.

Dean threw his phone across the dash. _Dammit!_

"Dean, what the hell was that?" Sam demanded.

"Asmodeus has Cas."

Sam sputtered. "What?"

Dean shook his head as fear and panic surged up and tried to overwhelm him. They'd just gotten Cas back; they couldn't lose him again.

"The bastard has been impersonating him on the phone. For months."

Sam's face drained of color. "But…"

Dean watched the myriad of emotions cross his brother's face as Sam was likely looking back on every time he'd talked to Cas on the phone recently. How could they not have noticed? God, it was just like when Lucifer had been possessing Cas…

"Why?" Sam asked, but he stiffened a split second later as realization struck, and he flicked a glance toward the backseat.

"Yeah," Dean said gruffly. "He wants to trade Cas for Jack." Dean ran a hand down his face, then pressed the gas to resume driving. "We have time to get Jack back to the bunker. He'll be safe there. And then you and I can go to the meet. Maybe if we go in with everything we have…"

Yeah, 'cause that worked so well against Ramiel. It'd taken the friggin' Lance of Michael to finally bring that dickbag down. Still, they had to try. Dean was not going to leave his best friend to be tortured by a Prince of Hell.

"You have to take me with you," Jack spoke up.

Dean shot him a startled look. "No, we don't. That's the last place you need to be."

"But…if the demon sees that I'm not with you," Jack slowly reasoned out. "He could leave. I have to be there."

"Jack has a point," Sam said regretfully. "And, I mean, in terms of firepower, he's better than anything we've got."

Dean shook his head. "We can't risk Asmodeus nabbing him."

Sam pursed his mouth. "I don't know if he even can. I mean, he impersonated Donatello to get close, and attacked us when we arrived to stop him, but he didn't make a grab for Jack then. And Jack managed to scare him off." Sam twisted in his seat to look at the kid. "We're not trading you for Cas. But we can go in, make it look like we are. And once we have Cas, you can fly away."

"I don't like it," Dean insisted. "Asmodeus has to know how flighty this kid has been lately. No offense," he added with a glance in the rearview mirror. Jack just furrowed his brow at him. "He has to know that us just walking Jack in there isn't gonna be enough. He's been keeping Cas all this time—what else has he got up his sleeve?"

Sam was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. But we can't afford not to go."

Dean swallowed hard. His brother was right. This was Cas, and they couldn't just leave him there.

All he could do was hope this wouldn't be another one of those times where everything blew up in their faces…

* * *

They pulled up outside the bar at dawn. There were no other vehicles in the lot, no sign of anyone else around. Dean put the Impala in park and turned off the engine. His nerves were coiled tightly as he exited the car, Sam and Jack following suit. They approached the doors cautiously. Dean and Sam both had angel blades in their jackets, but those wouldn't get them far, especially against a Prince of Hell.

The interior of the bar was dim, with only the grey light of daybreak filtering through the windows. Dean and Sam kept Jack between them, eyes peeled against the shadows in the corners. The place looked as empty as it had that night they'd come looking for Cas, save the furniture wasn't trashed this time around.

Until a man in a white suit suddenly materialized at the bar counter. His scarred face broke into a wide smile. "Ah, hello again, Jack."

Dean put an arm out in front of the kid. "Where's Cas?"

Asmodeus smirked, but snapped his fingers, and Dean tensed as two demons in black suits emerged from the kitchen, dragging Cas between them. One had an angel blade to his throat. Dean had a brief moment of relief that his friend didn't look hurt.

Cas's eyes widened when he saw them. "Dean, _no_."

Dean didn't know whether Cas thought he was actually planning on handing the kid over, or if the angel was just mad Dean had brought Jack here to begin with. Either way, Dean had already admitted it wasn't the _best_ plan…

Asmodeus raised his arms out toward Jack in an inviting gesture. "Jack, come."

Jack's brow furrowed warily, and he didn't move. "Let Castiel go first."

Asmodeus arched a brow, and glanced at Cas for a second before returning his attention to Jack. "If you join me."

"No, Jack, just run!" Cas urged.

The one demon pressed the blade further against his neck, forcing his head back to avoid getting cut. Dean clenched his fists.

"Come on, Jack," Asmodeus cajoled. "You know you don't belong with these humans. You are a being of immense power. You are going to change the world."

"Not the way you're hoping," Dean couldn't help but retort.

Asmodeus's eyes flashed yellow. "Join me, son." The demon paused, one corner of his mouth curving upward. "I have someone I think you would be interested in meeting. Your father."

Dean frowned. Wait, _what_?

"My father?" Jack repeated slowly.

"Lucifer."

Dean's heart seized. No, that was impossible. Lucifer was gone, banished to that bizarro world. No way he could be back…

"You have questions," Asmodeus went on. "Come with me and you'll find the answers."

Dean's pulse was racing as he watched doubt and uncertainty flicker over Jack's face. Crap, this _was_ going to blow up in their faces…

"No!" Cas shot a hand up to grab the arm of the demon holding the blade to his throat, and wrenched the weapon down. He head butted the second demon behind him so hard the guy went staggering into the wall. Then Cas was twisting around, still holding the arm of the first demon, and plunging the angel blade into the douchebag's chest. Orange lightning spritzed through the body.

Asmodeus whipped up a crooked hand, and Cas suddenly went rigid as his back arched in a spasm, face scrunched up in silent agony. Dean stiffened, hand going for his blade.

"Stop it!" Jack shouted, and Dean felt static prickle on the air.

He instinctively took a step away from Jack as the space around the kid rippled with growing power.

"Jack, come with me," Asmodeus said urgently. "Come with me to see your father."

Jack's eyes turned yellow and orange waves of energy began to exude around him. He hunched his shoulders forward, expression turning murderous. "You're hurting my father."

Dean had only a split second before that power exploded outward, and the shockwave slammed into his chest to throw him into the wall, and everything went black.

* * *

Aches and pains brought him back to consciousness, and Dean blinked blearily at the dirty floor smashed into his face. Groaning, he pushed himself up and looked around. Sam was lying across the room, and all the furniture had been flung against the walls. Dean turned his head the other direction and froze.

Jack was sitting on the floor, Cas's head pillowed in his lap. Cas's eyes were closed, and there was a trail of blood coming from his ear. Jack looked over at Dean, expression wrecked with devastation.

"I'm sorry," he said, sounding so young and frightened. "I'm so sorry."

Dean's heart nearly stopped. _No, no, no_. Not again. Cas couldn't do this to him again. Lurching to his feet, he stumbled across the room to drop to the floor again, one hand shakily reaching out. Dean quickly scanned the immediate area, and when he didn't see the charcoal outlines, urgently pressed two fingers under Cas's jawline.

The oxygen punched from his lungs. "He's alive," Dean exhaled.

Jack continued to stare at Cas, eyes watery and almost unseeing. Dean latched onto his shoulder and dug his fingers in until the kid looked up.

"Listen to me. No wing prints. And he's got a pulse. Cas is alive."

Jack dropped his gaze again. "I hurt him. I could have killed him."

"But you _didn't_." Dean whipped his head around frantically. "Where's Asmodeus? Did you roast him?"

Jack slowly half turned to the empty space behind him. "No. He looked hurt. And angry. But he disappeared."

Dean glanced at the other two demons. Cas had ganked one, and the other was a crushed misalignment of limbs and blood against the far wall. Too bad that Prince of Hell bastard was still alive. Or, not too bad, because most of Jack's power had shot straight outward toward Asmodeus—and anyone standing near him. Anything strong enough to take out a Prince of Hell would have definitely killed an angel. While Dean and Sam had only gotten the ripple effect. Dean threw a look over at his brother.

"Okay, I have to check on Sam," he told Jack, giving the kid's shoulder another fervent squeeze. "Stay with Cas. Hey, do you hear me? I need your help here. _Cas_ needs you."

The last thing they needed was Jack taking off again, especially in this state.

Jack gave a slow nod, eyes still glued to Cas's lax face. Dean pried himself away and staggered over to his brother.

"Sammy? Sam."

To his sheer relief, Sam let out a low moan and started to loll his head back and forth. Sam's eyelids fluttered open. "Ugh, what happened?"

"Jack," Dean replied, grabbing his brother's arm and hauling him up.

"Asmodeus?" Sam asked with a jolt of alarm.

"Took off." Dean paused and lowered his voice. "Cas is hurt, bad."

Sam's gaze drifted over his shoulder, and a muscle in his jaw jumped.

Dean made his way back over to Jack, crouching down on the floor again and sliding his arms under Cas's back and knees. "Help me," he instructed.

Frowning, Jack nevertheless helped Dean lift Cas off the floor. Dean grunted under the weight and the assault of the memory of carrying Cas's body like this out to a pyre…

But he wasn't dead. Not this time. They were gonna get him home and get him safe.

"Watch his head," Dean told Jack with full gravity. "Make sure I don't accidentally bump him into anything on our way out."

Which Dean wouldn't let happen anyway, but Jack seemed too much in a daze to realize that, and Dean needed the kid to focus on something, keep him grounded here with them and not on the verge of flying off.

Sam led the way toward the door, frequently shooting worried looks back at them in between scanning for more demons, but none came out of the woodwork to attack. Dean could only hope that Asmodeus would learn his damn lesson and leave Jack alone.

But he knew that wouldn't be the case. If anything, the Prince of Hell would be even more motivated. And then there was the fact that he apparently had Lucifer on his side, but that was a whole other can of worms they didn't have time for right now.

When they reached the car, Dean told Jack to go around the other side and help pull Cas in. Jack obeyed as though on auto pilot, hurrying around the rear of the Impala while Sam opened the back door on this end. Dean angled Cas sideways to ease him into the backseat.

"Brace his head and shoulders," Dean said as Jack reached to take Cas, the kid gingerly guiding Cas down to rest the angel's head in his lap once more. Dean tucked Cas's legs in and shut the door.

He and Sam exchanged a look fraught with worry before they both clambered into the car and Dean pointed them toward home. Luckily, they weren't far from the bunker. Dean kept glancing in the rearview mirror, partly to check on Cas, partly to make sure Jack was still back there. Neither passenger moved, one completely unconscious, the other on the verge of going into shock. Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel, silently cursing their damn luck. After months being imprisoned by a Prince of Hell, Cas had to nearly die in the friggin' rescue. And everything Jack had been terrified of, the reason he'd left in the first place, had happened. Dean could only hope they didn't lose the kid for good over this.

Or Cas.

They made it back to the bunker without Jack disappearing on them, but he was practically a zombie now as Dean continued to dish out orders to help him get Cas inside. Only once they got Cas into his room did Jack start to back away.

Sam lifted a hand toward him, but the kid flinched out of reach.

"Don't- don't touch me," Jack said, voice pained. He slowly turned and left, not with a flap of wingbeats, but the soft padding of footsteps. A few moments later, Dean heard the echo of a door shutting down the hall.

He ran a hand over his jaw as he gazed down at Cas. And the hits just kept on coming.

Dean pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and leaned over to wipe away the blood that had pooled in Cas's ear. He wondered just how bad a sign that was. He knew from past experience that when Cas over-extended himself with his grace, he'd get nose bleeds, sometimes cough up blood. This was different.

This was nephilim power.

Dean set the handkerchief on the nightstand and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"What do we do?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged helplessly. At this point, all they could do was wait it out.

* * *

Dean grabbed a chair and set up vigil by Cas's bed. He knew Cas would be okay eventually. Angels didn't die quietly. They died in explosive starbursts with ash and burn marks. But it was that memory that kept Dean from straying from the room.

Sam came and went, almost like he was roaming aimlessly. He'd started toward Jack's room once, but Dean had told him to let the kid be. That the only thing that was gonna help in this situation was Cas waking up and being okay.

So Sam brought coffee, and an extra blanket to drape over Cas. Then he left and came back with his laptop, but that only captured his attention for a short time before he was fidgeting restlessly again. It was kind of weird, Dean being the still one now. He'd never been very patient, but he also knew Jack needed some time alone to process things, and even though Dean had warmed up to the kid, he didn't yet have that same attachment that Sam did. And with Cas, well, it wasn't like the son-of-a-bitch didn't have a habit of making Dean wait forever on him.

Sam had wandered off again by the time Cas finally started to come to. Dean straightened and reached out to clasp his forearm as Cas's face pinched with the beginnings of wakefulness. And then bleary blue eyes slid open to gaze at him dazedly.

"Dean?"

"Hey, man. How you feeling?"

Cas tried to lift his head to take stock of himself, but ended up plopping back against the pillow with a stifled groan. "What happened?"

"Jack tried to nuke Asmodeus and you got caught in the crossfire."

Cas's eyes widened and he tried to bolt upright. "Jack?"

"He's fine. He's here," Dean replied quickly, pushing Cas back down. It wasn't hard. He then added, just for the record, "You know I wasn't actually there to hand him over, right? Kid refused to be left behind when you were in trouble."

Cas squeezed his eyes shut. "That was foolish. What if Asmodeus had taken him?"

"He'd already taken you."

Cas's eyes snapped open again with a flash of ire. "Jack is more important."

"Yeah, and you swore to protect him. Well, guess what, in order to do that, you kinda have to be here. With him," Dean said pointedly.

Cas blinked at him as though stunned, and then swallowed. "I'm sorry. You know I didn't _intend_ to get captured."

Dean sighed. "I know. I'm just…pissed at myself that I didn't realize something was wrong. Asmodeus was impersonating you on the phone this whole time and I couldn't even tell it wasn't my best friend on the other end."

Cas gave him a sympathetic look. "Asmodeus is a crafty manipulator. I don't fault you for that, Dean."

"Yeah, well, I do." He shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "We're gonna have to set up some code phrases to use from now on. Not distress ones, but ones we use every time we have to split up. Because I'm pretty sure Asmodeus isn't going to give up."

Cas's expression fell. "No, he won't." He paused. "And I suppose some phrases would be useful. For Jack, too, so Asmodeus doesn't try to lure him away by impersonating one of us."

Gee, there was a happy thought.

Dean gave his friend a critical look, but unfortunately, it wasn't like any old injuries would be distinguishable from the new ones. "Did the bastard hurt you? He said he didn't, not that I'd take his word for it."

Cas gave a small head shake. "No. He threw me in a cell next to Lucifer and left me there." His face scrunched up in distaste. "It was one of the worse forms of torture I've ever experienced."

Dean frowned. Wait, Lucifer was in Asmodeus's dungeon? This Prince of Hell was powerful enough to cage _the Devil_? And how the hell was he back, anyway?

Dean pushed his questions aside; there'd be time to ask about Lucifer—and maybe what that meant for Mom—later, but right now they had some more pressing matters.

"You up to talking to Jack? Kid was pretty upset you got hurt."

Cas started to prop himself up on his elbows, but Dean stood and gestured for him to stop.

"I'll go get the kid. You stay here. You honestly still look like crap."

Cas sighed, slumping in apparent defeat, which only confirmed Dean's suspicion that he wasn't all that recovered. "Just not hammered crap," Cas said tiredly.

"Run-over-by-a-semi crap," Dean corrected as he started to leave. He paused at the door and turned around. "Cas, I know Jack's important. I get it. But you're important, too. To us. To him. There's no hierarchy here. At the end of the day, we _all_ go home."

Cas gazed back at him for a prolonged moment before giving a small nod of acceptance.

Dean stepped out into the hall and spotted Sam, and cocked his head toward the room. "Cas is awake."

His brother's eyes widened with relief, and Sam hurried inside while Dean headed down the corridor to Jack's room. The door was closed, and there were no sounds coming from inside. Dean really hoped he hadn't made a mistake giving the kid space…space to fly off again.

He raised his knuckles to rap against the wood. "Jack? Cas is awake."

Dean waited a beat before turning the knob and opening the door. He'd been bracing himself for emptiness, but there was Jack, sitting cross-legged on the bed, brow furrowed in that perpetual look of half confusion, half teenage angst.

"Hey, you hear me? Cas is better and he wants to see you."

Jack didn't move for a moment, but then he slowly unfurled his legs and slid off the bed, head hanging dejectedly as he shuffled forward. Dean frowned but didn't say anything, just escorted the kid back to Cas's room where Sam was helping Cas to partially sit up against the headboard.

Cas immediately straightened when they entered. "Jack, are you all right?"

Jack's brows puckered, expression turning incredulous. "How can you ask me that? I hurt you."

Cas shook his head. "I know you weren't trying to," he replied. "It was an accident. And you ended up saving me."

"That doesn't make it okay," Jack protested. "I could have killed you." His eyes narrowed. "You're still hurting."

Cas tried to give him a wan smile. "I've had worse, believe me."

Jack just stared at him. "If I stay, you will have…more worse."

Panic surged up in Cas's eyes. "Jack—"

"But I can't go," the kid barreled on. "Because then I will cause just as much damage to the rest of the world. But I don't want to hurt you again." His voice cracked, and he looked at Dean pleadingly. "Have you found a way to kill me yet?"

Dean's brows rose sharply. "Whoa, whoa, nobody's talking about killing you."

Shit, of course that brash comment had to come back and bite him in the ass.

"But you should," Jack insisted. "Or find a place to lock me up. Far away from everyone."

"Jack," Cas said desperately, trying to sit up further but failing. Sam had to grab his arm to support him. "You just need time to learn to control your powers, which you _can_ do. I know you can."

"Cas is right," Sam put in. "Jack, look how far you've come already."

"But it's not just that," Jack argued, gaze still fixed on Cas. "That demon kidnapped you to get to me. Lucifer _killed_ you to get to me."

"Those things are not your fault," Cas replied firmly. "And I would give my life to protect you. I would give my life to protect any of you."

"Yeah," Dean interrupted somewhat snippily. "But since you've already done that—a few times—let's take that play off the table for a while, okay?" He turned to Jack. "And remember that you helped save Cas, both those times. Maybe it didn't go perfectly this last time, but you know what, most of our attempts at saving the world and each other don't either. We all screw up. And we all pick ourselves up and keep on grinding. That's we do in this family. And you don't have to like it, but you're stuck with us. Crappy stuff and all."

"Dean," Cas chided.

"What? That's the truth," he said unapologetically, then looked at Jack again. "You want to know how many times I've messed up and Sam or Cas have gotten hurt because of it? Or the other way around? Trust me, we've got you beat on that tally ten times over. So, you know, you fit in pretty well here," Dean finished with a shrug.

Jack was gazing at him warily. "And what if I hurt you again in the future?" he asked softly.

"Then we pick ourselves up then, too," Dean replied. "And if we happen to get killed, well, you've seen how well that sticks."

"Dean," Sam muttered, shooting him a mild bitch-face.

"Just sayin'."

Jack pursed his mouth for a long moment, then shifted his gaze to Cas. "You're all I have," he said sadly.

Cas nodded slowly. "I know. So let us help you."

Jack wavered, but then ducked his head. "Okay."

Dean let out a breath of relief. Finally. And he couldn't believe the one-eighty he'd done in regards to Lucifer's kid, but he supposed it was just another crazy turn in their whacked-out lives.

"Okay," he repeated. "Cas, you can stop trying to get off that bed, because I can tell by looking at you it ain't happening."

Cas glowered at him, but when Sam started to ease him back against the pillows, he didn't have much choice but to let it happen.

Dean tapped Jack's shoulder and nodded to the vacant chair by the bed. "Why don't you two talk for a bit? I'll go rustle up some burgers." He caught Sam's eye, and the two of them headed out of the room, giving their two celestial residents time to catch up.

At least they were all back together again. That's how they'd be strong enough to face whatever came next.

Team Free Will 2.0.

Family.


End file.
